Ronaldo gone in 120 minutes after Real's £80m cash offer

World record transfer tied up in two hours with winger to get first £100m contract

After all the weeks and months of conjecture, rumour and flirtations, the £80m deal which will take Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United to Real Madrid on an initial £9.5m annual salary was tied up in just two hours, it was revealed last night.

Without the slightest ceremony – not even an advance telephone call – the Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, faxed United's chief executive David Gill at Old Trafford at around 6pm on Wednesday evening, where staff immediately contacted him to make him aware of the astonishing document which lay before them.

Gill was making his way to Uefa's offices in Geneva, Switzerland, where he attended a meeting yesterday. His first and immediate telephone call was to Sir Alex Ferguson, holidaying in the south of France, his second was to club owner's the Glazer family, the third to Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes to ensure the player actually wanted the six-year deal, and by mid-evening the world's most expensive transfer deal had been concluded. The £80m – payable, The Independent understands, in one lump sum – will be Ferguson's to spend as he wishes.

The instantaneous decision Ferguson came to on Wednesday illustrates that he instinctively knew that Ronaldo was lost to him and another summer of persuasion was pointless. Though Gill was at pains to reinforce again yesterday that suggestions of a deal having been put in place between Real and United months ago were "complete nonsense", it is quite possible Ferguson and Ronaldo reached an informal agreement last summer. Only the two of them may know.

The £183,000-a-week being offered by Real Madrid simply takes Ronaldo into another stratosphere. The £9.5m annual figure is expected to rise by an increment of 25 per cent each year – to offset a non-domicile tax of that percentage of his income over that time. Ronaldo's salary will include his 40 per cent cut of revenues generated from his image rights. His annual salary will grow to around £12m in 2010-11, £18.5m by the fourth year and £28.9m by the sixth and final year of the deal. This means that he could earn more than £106m across the course of the six years. The player is expected to begin detailed conversations with Real today or at the weekend and is said to be keen that he, rather than his agent should have the final say.

So who might possibly fill the massive breach the World Player of the Year is leaving? The most likely overseas target as United seek to replace a player who scored 118 goals in 292 games for United is Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry, though the German club's €75m (£64m) asking price may well leave Ferguson to settle for the more modest acquisition of Wigan Athletic's Luis Valencia, at £20m.

The income from Ronaldo, a player United paid Sporting Lisbon £12.2m for as a 17-year-old in 2003 swells United's overall transfer fund to £120m, taking into account the club's existing £50m "war chest". But Bayern's asking price for Ribéry and the €50m (£42.5m) that would be needed to lure Lyons' Karim Benzema may be figures Ferguson is unwilling to lay out for individuals whose Premier League pedigree is unproven. Another individual who may be on Ferguson's radar is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose agent said this week he covets a move from Internazionale, but he is equally unproven in Britain. There has been no further contact with Wigan since the informal approach on Monday over the 23-year-old Ecuadorian winger, but if Ferguson does bring in Valencia and manages to persuade Carlos Tevez that he has a future at Old Trafford, United may feel they have enough of a force to mount a bid for their fourth successive Premier League title.

The view from within Old Trafford remains extremely gloomy where Tevez staying on is concerned but it is difficult to believe that he will not inform his representative Kia Joorabchian, in the strongest possible terms, that he now wants to stay. The Argentine's agents stressed yesterday that Ronaldo's move had no direct implications for Tevez, for whose services Manchester City are leading the hunt. United are more confident that the interest Barcelona and Real have shown in Nemanja Vidic will not see another part of Ferguson's core side leaving.

Ronaldo is expected to begin detailed discussions with Real – who have broken the world transfer record twice in a week following the £56m they paid Milan for Kaka on Monday – as early as today and is due to be in Madrid next week, where the Spanish side wish to unveil him and Kaka together.

Ronaldo will remain in Los Angeles on holiday until next week but United said in a statement yesterday that the deal would be concluded by 30 June.